This Short Talk Bulletin has been adapted from a paper
presented to the Connecticut Philosophic Lodge of Research in 1972. It was
written by Brother James M. Desmond, who served as Grand Master of Masons in
Connecticut in 1978. We thank M.W. Brother Desmond and the Philosophic
Lodge of Research for sharing it as a Short Talk Bulletin.

The ideas presented in this paper are in response to a
question that arises in the mind of nearly every newly-made Mason. Perhaps a
month or two from the time he is raised, a helpful Brother presents the
surprising news
that all our secrets have been exposed. It may come up during an instruction
session, or the new Brother may be already trying to find out how much of
our work is secret, and how much he can tell to his wife. Or it may be in
the talk over coffee after the lodge is closed. In any event the Brother
learns that the ritual work, the signs and words, and everything else, can
be found written down in a book, an expose', and he probably learns who has
such a book!

However it comes about, the new Brother begins to wonder
why he was made to under-stand that Masons took secrecy so seriously, and if
he has been somewhat gullible for adop-ting a similar attitude. He wonders
about it-- he remembers the penalties. How is he to resolve this
inconsistent situation? On the other hand, he is sworn to secrecy, the lodge
is tyled to prevent unauthorized intrusion and visitors are examined to see
if they are Masons and deserving to be admitted. On the other hand, he finds
that there remains no real secrecy, yet no one seems greatly concerned. If
he asks, they kind of shrug, and change the subject. If Masons feel this way
about secrecy, do they likewise take the other teachings lightly and of no
great importance? Do Masons go through elaborate ritualistic means to
present great ideas of morality, and brotherly love, and then have no more
concern for these principles than they apparently have for the practice of
secrecy?

Of course, there is no doubt that Masons take their
teachings, and secrecy, seriously. It is not the purpose of this discussion
to consider such questions. Neither will we discuss the usual traditional
basis for secrecy; they do not provide a satisfactory answer in the sense
sought here.

The approach taken here will be much narrower in scope,
perhaps even a technical ap-proach. We will try to understand how the
con-tinued practice of secrecy can be necessary not only because of its
inherent position among the landmarks as an essential ingredient of our
philosophy, but because it has a practical pur-pose, that of insuring the
success of our methods of teaching. To see how the method used by Masonry
for so long, depends on secrecy for effectiveness. To show that secrecy is
valuable, not because it keeps those outside the temple from finding what
goes on within, but because it makes the lessons within more ef-fective for
those being taught. We can even go so far as to say that the enduring
success of the order for generations depends as much on this effective
method of presenting the teachings as it does on their content.

We will show that the Masonic method is consistent with
rules for learning, rules which require active involvement on the part of
the one being instructed. Furthermore, the practice of secrecy enforces
teaching according to this principle of active involvement.

Let us examine in turn, then, the traditional practices
used in Masonry, the role of secrecy, and possibility of further improvement
in ap-proaches to our goals which make use of find-ings from the science of
learning.

1. Learning Principles

One principle of learning is that an idea is learned
better when we become more deeply in-volved with it. If there is a skill to
be learned, such as riding a bike or driving a car, then muscular activity
plays a part, and calls into use additional avenues of perception. Such
muscular skills are extremely well learned and retained for a long time,
even after long periods of disuse. If the thing to be learned is an idea or
a thought, we learn and remember it better by going over it in our minds,
examining it, trying it out in different situations. We get deeply
in-volved, and the learning takes place at a deep level in our minds. On the
other hand, ideas that we receive only passively in the conscious thinking
levels of our minds, make little lasting impression .

Concepts thus deeply learned are embedded in our minds
and become a part of our Self. They play a most important part in
controlling our future thoughts, actions, and responses to various
situations. This process of deep learn-ing has been going on in each of us
since infan-cy, consciously or unconsciously. It can be a powerful force,
shaping the characters of men according to highest standards, inculcating
the virtues of brotherly love, relief and truth.

It continues throughout our lifetime, form-ing our
personality, shaping our character. Masonry, to reach its goal of
character develop-ment, tries to impress in our minds tremen-dous lessons.
In its methods, Masonry takes its candidates by the hand and literally leads
them in involved participation into the beautiful ceremonies and lectures.
Masonic instruction in this manner clearly impresses the lessons on its
candidates, not by passive exposure, but by ac-tive experience.

Masonry has known and used this simple principle for
hundreds of years. Our instruction is imparted by the ritual only.
Candidates have to participate, get involved, in the experience they
undergo.

Merely reading matter that we want to learn is not as
effective. The information is held in the conscious training levels of the
mind. It may not reach the deeper levels where it becomes a part of our
self. If the lessons could be so easily learned, the ritual would not be
necessary. But they cannot. Masonic teaching requires the ac-tive
participation of the candidate.

With this understanding of the method of learning which
has long been used in Masonry, it will be easy to see its relation to
secrecy, or rather the role played by secrecy in the Masonic method.

II. Secrecy

Besides being essential to the form of Masonry we know,
and in spite of the fact that the secrets can be obtained in a clandestine
manner outside the lodge, the importance of secrecy lies in the part it
plays in protecting the prospective candidate from learning, or being
exposed to, the teachings without actively entering into them through the
degree work. He must experience them.

As far as the candidate is concerned, this simple idea
provides a satisfactory answer to the question raised at the opening of this
discus-sion. While our first thought might be that secrecy prevents the
outsider from learning secrets that give us some supposed advantage, we can
now see that its most important effect is to insure that the teachings are
learned by real experience under control of the ritual. We have no secrets.
We would proclaim our teachings from the rooftops as loudly as we can for
all to hear, if they could be learned in that manner. They are neither
secret nor unique to Masonry. The Masonic method uses secrecy to
insure that the initiate receives the message with all the ad-vantages of
active experiences.

This is a very important idea. It is of central
importance in the persistence of Masonry throughout the ages. Masonry
continues to ex-ist not because it has esoteric power, but because it uses
secrecy to strengthen the sound teaching principles which it uses. Secrecy
is used to keep the candidates from learn-ing the lessons in any other than
the most ef-fective manner. Masonry takes the eternal truths and through its
method of instruction by active participation deeply embeds them in the
minds and hearts of men.

We are led to a concept of symbolic secrecy-the act or
practice of secrecy is itself a symbol. It symbolizes the Masonic
method of instruc-tion that requires active experiencing by the candidate of
the lessons in the work. This con-cept of secrecy as a symbol can have a
dynamic effect in the lives of those who choose to become Masons and strive
to perfect their skills in our art. It gives rise to a power that molds
character and inculcates the higher principles of moral conduct. This is
what Masonry is all about, and it can only be achieved in this man-ner of
teaching. That is, of acquiring, at a deep inner level, the knowledge and
beliefs which control and shape our lives in the most desirable way.

The profane are excluded not by being unable to obtain
secret knowledge about Masonry, but by being unable to profit by the unique
effective means of instruction employed in the ritual.

The great truths of our art are learned not by reading
them or passively hearing them, but by deep active experience which puts the
ideas into the innermost parts of our minds and bodies, where they become
active, powerful forces controlling our behavior and shaping our lives in
accord with the highest principles of moral character and personal
development.

III. New Approaches lo Old Coals

Some psychologists have come to believe, as a result of
controlled experiments, that im-provement can be gained not only by real
prac-tice, but also by practice in the imagination. That is, once we
have experienced a new idea or skill, practice in the imagination is as
effective as actual practice. Thus basketball players or golfers can improve
their scores by regular practice, not on the court or fairway, but in their
minds, by imagining that they are actually playing.

In a controlled experiment, psychologist R.A. Vandell
proved that mental practice in throwing darts at a target, wherein the
person sits for a period each day in front of the target, and imagines
throwing darts at it, improves aim as much as actually throwing darts.

Another report concerns an experiment on the effects of
mental practice on improving skill in sinking basketball free throws.
One group, which practiced every day in their imagination, improved in
scoring as much as another group which actually practiced.

The deep inner mind, which we call the sub-conscious,
receives its impressions of the outer world from the conscious thinking part
of our brains. Since accurately imagined experiences produce the same sort
of impressions as real ones, and since they follow the same channels to the
subconscious mind, real experiences and imagined experiences cannot be
easily distinguished by the inner mind. In this manner the imagined practice
produced the same beneficial results as actual practice.

You may wonder what all this has to do with secrecy or
with Masonry. Well, if we find that secrecy supports Masonry's use of a
well-known principle of learning, why can't we take advantage of a newer
idea from the science of learning? Why cannot a Mason, who has been
properly inducted into our order, gain more, whenever he is present at the
exemplifica-tion of one of the degrees, by taking an active part by way of
the imagination more than he could by sitting passively on the sidelines.

Why can't we, while the officers are enlightening and
instructing the candidates, ac-company him in our imagination? We can
im-agine in great detail, that we are again going through the steps with the
candidate. We can thus strengthen the association between the ritual and
ideas it expresses so that the symbolic acts become deeply embedded in our
minds. This provides a better foundation on which to build an improved
concept of what our life can and should be.

In these procedures, it is important to have clearly
defined goals to guide the formation of impressions transmitted to our
subconscious minds. The goals are found in Masonry: the development of moral
character, inculcation of the Masonic virtues-charity, relief, brotherhood.

SUMMARY

First, the method of instruction used in

Masonry is based on the principle, which is now
well-known, that active experience and deep in-volvement improve the process
of education.

Second, in addition to its traditional basis, Masonic
secrecy is essential to the Masonic method of instruction, the means of
insuring that our candidates receive their instruction in the prescribed
active manner. It matters not that the work is exposed, since the profane
lack the "secret" of active involvement.

We started out looking for a symbolic meaning in the
continued practice of secrecy in Masonry. Instead, we have come to realize
that secrecy is not for the purpose of excluding the profane, but for the
benefit of our initiates, since it is, in effect, employed to insure the
suc-cess of our method.

If we want to consider secrecy to be a sym-bol, it is a
symbol of a method of learning by active participation.

Third, in a recent extension of the principle of
learning by experience, it appears that prac-tice or rehearsal carried out
in the imagination is nearly as effective as actual practice.

That we can apply this extension by not sit-ting
passively on the sidelines, but by taking part in our imagination while we
are witnessing the work.

Finally, and most important, those methods of learning
are more effective when they are directed toward a goal. Masonry provides
the clearly defined goal. It is the improvement of moral character, and the
inculcation of brotherly love and the Masonic virtues; that all men may be
brothers united in their labors, to the eternal honor of the name of the
Great Ar-chitect of the Universe.